Notes / Commercial Description:
Brewed with decadent dark Belgian chocolate and an abundance of tart raspberry purée, Scratch #124 is an enticing Imperial Stout brimming with optimism. Each passing sip reveals its enduring charm and infinite merriment. The addition of Westmalle yeast (a Trappist yeast strain) enhances the flavor and texture of the ale, giving it an authentic Belgian flair. A celebration of two flavors that complement each other so exquisitely, Scratch #124 answers the all-important question: “What’s for dessert tonight?”

User Reviews

A- Pours a dark brown that settles into the glass as a dark cola color. Huge fluffy mocha-colored head that lingers around for a while and leaves a mess of lacing.

S- Lots of Belgian yeast, white pepper aromas, hints of roasted malt and chocolate malt. Not much in the way of fruit. Almost a Belgian black IPA aroma.

T- Again roasted malt and Belgian yeast dominates. Towards the middle some light chocolate flavors sneak in, but do not last. Towards the end is where I can finally pick up some raspberry flavor. It is not overpowering, which is good, but the chocolate and raspberry could be more prominent.

M- Rather thin and light for an imperial stout. Medium carbonation, but not very smooth and creamy as I would have expected.

O- Pretty big disappointment for me. The chocolate and raspberry is just too subtle. The Belgian yeast is a little overwhelming with very little chocolate and raspberry to mesh with it.

A - Pours jet black with a small half finger tall tan head, quickly dissipating down to a light film, leaving small webs of lace down the sides of the glass.

S - Smells of dark roasted malt, fresh made dark chocolates, dulled raspberry pulp, light smokiness and a bit of booze. I don't get a lot of the raspberry in the nose which is kind of disappointing.

T - Starts off with the dark roasted malt and an off putting chalky feel from the dark chocolate slowly giving way to hints of dulled raspberry sweetness, dark fruits, smokey charr and some warming booze burn rounds things out. Finish is sweet with some dryness, lingering long after the finish. Flavors are there but again I am wishing for more raspberry.

M - Heavy body with moderate carbonation. The chalky feel does a great job of ruining this beer. It mutes the palate and does't allow the flavors to shine as intended.

O - Much like the last few chocolate scratch's it has all of the described flavors but the chalky feel yet again brings it down. The raspberries are there but they just can't hold off the chocolate onslaught. Worth a try but far from their best.

Draft offering at the Troegs tasting room. The brew appears dark brown to nearly black with more brown clarity coming through around the edges. A dark brown cap rests atop with patchy lacing effect sticking to the glassware.

The aroma is pleasantly roasty with some notes of milk chocolate. As it is swirled, a little phenolic spice comes forward with a fruity essence of dark alcohol like rasin blending into the advertised raspberry. The raspberry seems more like perfume than the natural essence of ripe raspberry.

The taste is spicy and yeasty with clove and dark fruit like rasins and dates seeming coming from the yeast. It is quite green feeling, overly yeasty and earthen with bitter herbal hops blending into dark bakers chocolate and trace coffee. It gets more strange and yeasty as the experience continues.

This is a medium bodied brew with a modest level of carbonation. Some sips, this brew shows a little bit of potential but overall this is really a strange mix of flavors. The chocolate and earth are nice but mixed with the fruitiness and spice of the yeast, it really clashes for me. Stout? No, not at all this is most certainly not a stout let alone an imperial one. This is a fruited belgian brown. I have no idea why they would advertise this as a stout.

I had this on tap at the brewery tasting room, enjoyed chilled in a tulip

The color is onyx with opaque clarity, thin beige head with good retention and fine bead with a film of lace collecting. The smell is a mix of fruity and roasted with a subtle burnt odor of extremely dark malt with mild alcohol aroma. The feel is decent, lots of thick malt texture with mild fruitiness and moderately high carbonation and bitterness with an alcohol impact on the palate.

The taste was good, but not as fruity or raspberry as I expected based on some of the other fruit beers the Troeg's brothers have made. There is a mild dry roastiness with an almost chalky burnt malt quality with piney bitterness in the back and nutty cocoa rounding the taste out with a relatively high amount of alcohol in the taste. Overall it is good and well brewed, but it almost seems like they wanted to smooth out impending descent by adding some fruit and cocoa - not sure if that is the case, but they are very similar except this is a little sweeter.

Enjoyed this with my uncle last night. Pours jet black with a generous 2 finger dark brown head. Nose is chocolate, cherries, wood and surprisingly little malt. Flavor is predominantly oaky, with milk and chocolate. Kept trying to taste the raspberries, but I was never able to. Mouthfeel was more like a light stout than an imperial. Disappeared quickly but still enjoyable. Fun beer to drink; will have to keep an eye out for when it shows up again.